


Twice Stung (the Triple Tremble Remix)

by misura



Category: White Collar
Genre: Con Artists, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-19
Updated: 2012-04-19
Packaged: 2017-11-03 22:08:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/386505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three things Neal Caffrey is afraid of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twice Stung (the Triple Tremble Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Twice Stung](https://archiveofourown.org/works/377711) by [embroiderama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/embroiderama/pseuds/embroiderama). 



.01 _losing his hat_

It's a silly thing, really, but there's logic behind it and it goes something like this.

Neal used to be in love with a woman whose name was probably not Kate Moreau. He didn't mind not knowing her real name, and if he minded not knowing the real person, then he never minded enough to stop loving her. (Besides, what is 'real', anyway? The con is always real at the moment you're running it; that's what makes it work.)

He's still not sure what happened, or when he'll see her again, or if he'll ever stop loving her. If real life were a con, when it comes to Kate, Neal's the perfect mark and he knows it. So.

Neal used to wear hats only rarely, and only for a purpose. This one hat, though, this one hat that used to belong to a gentleman with taste and money - he's wearing it for fun. Because he likes it, and because it's _his_. Fair and square and only slightly asked for.

June tells him she likes to see him wearing it. Peter, now, Peter disapproves of the hat the way he disapproves of Italian roast coffee. Jones and Cruz view the hat as part of Neal's act, and that is almost true, but not entirely.

The hat is part of Neal Caffrey, the guy whom Peter got out of prison, whom Peter buys lunch every blue Monday, who's staying with June and tries not to ruin Peter's career.

Stuck in a hospital bed without it, without anything at all to occupy his mind, Neal thinks of how easy it would be to never wear the hat again. He could walk (or, well, limp) out of here a free man and never look back.

 

.02 _himself_

Neal has known from the beginning that he could con Peter.

Peter's got rules, ethics, values, morals - he's a good man, and wanting to be one, and even if that sets him apart from most of Neal's marks (because most good men would love to be not quite so good, if only you let them believe they'll get away with it, that nobody will ever find out) that hardly makes him immune.

The thing is, though, that Neal's got rules, too. Not ethics, maybe, no values, definitely, a few morals, occasionally, but he does have rules. As long as Neal is Neal, he's allowed to con Peter for the small stuff - getting Neal out of prison, buying him lunch every blue Monday, letting him stay with June. Small fry. Fun stuff, because Neal's always been in it for the fun.

It wouldn't be hard at all, Neal knows, to stop being Neal long enough to ruin Peter's career. Neal would be sorry, after, but not sorry enough not to profit.

On some days, days like this one, stuck in a conference room to talk about boring people, Neal doesn't know how he'll ever be able to resist the temptation long enough to keep Peter safe.

 

.03 _wasps_

People who've been conned once are generally easy to con again. Human nature: they believe their experience entitles them to do unto others as has been done unto them, and so when you approach them with a clever and only slightly illegal plan to make lots of money at the expense of someone else, they tend to play along.

Once stung, twice spiteful.

Neal has experienced approximately thirty-eight seconds of being without the anklet, and without Peter sounding the alarm, because Peter was the one taking it off. He's not exactly keen on getting stuck by wasps again to relive that experience, but there's a file in his head on a mark called Peter Burke, and there's something in there about wasps now.

Allergies make for great props when you're running a con on a self-perceived good man.

Wild animals, unfortunately, make somewhat less good props; they tend to show up at their own leisure, rather than at your convenience, even if Neal has asked Mozzie to look out for a way to be able to produce a wasp or two at will, when the occasion calls for it.

Getting stuck twice in a month wasn't part of the plan - Peter's got a good memory, and Neal doesn't want him to get used to this sort of thing; he needs Peter off-balance, slightly panicked when taking off the anklet again, but alas.

"They're stalking me," he tells Peter, who reacts with a quite satisfactory display of protectiveness, followed by a far less satisfactory display on the part of the wasps by stinging Neal again (clearly, they recognize him as the easier mark).

At least he's got his hat with him this time, when he ends up in the hospital again.


End file.
